Christopher F. ‘Chris’ McConnell D’75

President, Adondo Corporation, Wayne, PA

Board Member: Elected 2010

A.B. Dartmouth College
M.S. Purdue University
M.B.A. Harvard Business School

Chris McConnell is president of Adondo Corporation in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Adondo is an investment firm specializing in applying computational linguistics to quantitative long-short equity management. Founded in 2003, Adondo had initially operated as a technology company focused on Internet telephony and speech recognition. Adondo's developments in this field evolved into the technology that drives the investment models that the firm employs today.

Chris has extensive experience with artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, surface science, process control, and public and private finance. After starting his career at Dow Chemical, Chris co-founded CFM Technologies in 1984. He served as CEO, and then as chairman, while this global semiconductor capital equipment manufacturer grew to $80 million in sales with over 400 employees. The company went public in 1996 (NASDAQ: CFMT), completed a secondary offering in 1998, and was purchased by Mattson Technologies (NASDAQ: MTSN) in 2000.

Actively involved with entrepreneurship, Chris formed The Founders Group, a Philadelphia organization to assist technology-based new ventures. He has spoken frequently on the challenges and opportunities of launching start-ups. Chris has served on or chaired numerous boards, including Guardian Capital Partners, Mi8 Corporation (Apptix), Wireless Xcessories Group (NASDAQ: XWG), Point Five Technologies (MotoLogic), Kenna Technologies, and V-SPAN.

As a long-time trustee, Chris is closely associated with The Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square. He enjoys skiing and golf, and is especially fond of coaching youth ice hockey.

Chris was awarded an A.B. degree in engineering sciences from Dartmouth in 1975, an M.S. degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University in 1976, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1984. He holds eighteen US patents. His wife, Stacey, and he are parents of five, including three Dartmouth children.